Power Girl

With Power Girl and the Huntress returned to their own Earth, and the latest issue of Worlds’ Finest turning its attention away from the heroines, I decided I’d give Earth-2 a shot. Despite the fact it concerns a dystopian world still fighting armies of Apokolips, I was pleasantly surprised in this character-driven story centered on the relationships of Kara, Helena, Thomas Wayne, Red Tornado, and Val-Zod. Whether intentional or not, the current feel of Earth 2 (with a black Superman, elderly Batman, and robotic Lois Lane) feels more like the early days of Marvel’s Ultimate line than the New 52.

Carrying on the tradition of Worlds’ Finest, Earth 2 #27 has multiple artists splitting the work. Thankfully, the art meshes reasonably well in telling to story of the foursome’s battle against an army of demons while focusing on reunions none of them ever expected. Once returned to their own Earth I had planned to turn my attentions elsewhere, but despite being stuck in a world I care little about this issue tempts me to continue sticking with Helena and Kara’s adventures… at least for a little while longer. Worth a look.

The Huntress and Power Girl‘s return to Earth-2 begins here. I’m on record as being vehemently against the move. Although the Worlds’ Finest #26 doesn’t sell me on the concept it at least doesn’t lose its way by delving headfirst into a war-torn new world. It’s actually odd, but we see very little of the modern day homeworld of the two heriones in their first issue back home.

Worlds’ Finest‘s best issues have all centered on the friendship between Power Girl and Huntress which continues here and (thankfully) doesn’t get overwhelmed by their new surroundings. I’m still not looking forward to months of New 52 Apokolips storylines (or Desaad‘s return) but at least the core relationship of the book appears to remain intact.

Oddly, the comic also continues the storyline on Prime Earth where Tanya Spears has been apparently tapped to take Power Girl’s place (both in and out of tights). How or why this is possible is unclear. I also wonder how long the comic plans to split focus between two worlds taking several pages away from its established stars. For fans.

The twenty-fifth issue of the series sees both the Huntress and Power Girl make their goodbyes before returning to their own Earth. Although the journey back home has been foreshadowed for some time, I’m less than thrilled with the comic sending the two heroes back to a universe I care even less about than the New 52 version of Earth-1. However, given that future solicitations suggest one or both characters will be making appearances in titles taking place on the main New 52 Earth it’s a bit unclear how long their trip home will last.

With at least the next several issues taking place on their hellish homeworld which has fallen to Apokolips and an evil Superman, Worlds’ Finest #25 plays to the series strengths by centering the storyline on the friendship and interaction of our two heroines. The issue works well and even an appearance of the New 52 version of Desaad (adding a bit of action to the proceedings) can’t ruin what works as a bittersweet portend that perhaps the series’ best issues may now have already been told. Worth a look.

With Power Girl busy attempting to finish the dimensional device to send the two heroes home (and restore power to the city which her first attempt caused), Huntress is on her own deal with a hostage situation involving a scientist who works for Karen Starr and a Slavic terrorist planning on using the blackout to detonate a dirty bomb.

Keeping the two heroes separate, Huntress carries the main story on her own as we peek in at Power Girl’s attempts to rectify the damage her creation has caused and set up a second attempt in next month’s series finale. As the series is ending I guess it’s settled that the pair will returning to the New 52 version of Earth-2 which disappoints me as I’ve enjoyed the small niche within this world Helena and Kara have managed to carve out for themselves.

Although we don’t get much interaction between the pair, as a penultimate issue Worlds’ Finest #24 works well as the threat to Huntress and the city is far more grave without the safety net of Power Girl swooping in until her bestie already has the situation well in hand. Worth a look.

Discovering with the right hardware she can indeed open up a portal home, the latest issue of Worlds’ Finest centers around Power Girl doing just that. Selling off the rest of her company to make her gateway, revealing her super-powers to her employees, and throwing all caution to he wind, Karen Star starts the machine and… blacks out the entire city.

Although I’m against Helena and Kara returning home to Earth-2, and less than thrilled with the return of Desaad teasing what will likely be a larger role in upcoming issues, Worlds’ Finest provides a healthy mix of both humor and action from the pair of kick-ass heroines that fans should enjoy. Worth a look.